


Granted

by ambidextrous_otter



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 20:53:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11216091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambidextrous_otter/pseuds/ambidextrous_otter
Summary: The slow recovery of Bucky Barnes.AKABucky gets out of cryo and the team is forced together again. Also, Steve blushes a lot. But him and Bucky are still bad asses.





	Granted

Steve Rogers was nervous. 

 

Not nervous as in some casual nail-biting or moderate pacing, but nervous as in a hand glued to a gun and eyes fixed straight ahead. Today was the day Bucky would be released from cryo. Part of Steve wanted nothing more for his friend to slump of of that weird coffin like enclosure and have magically become the same Bucky Steve remembered from the war. Yet the more rational part, the part that had scanned his friend's filed and taken note of all his scars, accepted that Bucky might not emerge, but the Winter Soldier instead.

 

Personally Steve believed it was far too early to force him out of his frozen slumber, but T'Challa had passed on a message from Fury that there were rumors of an enemy reforming, and Steve couldn't deny it would be best to give Bucky some time to readjust before throwing him into battle.

 

Still, only 6 months in cryo wasn't nearly enough time for Bucky to be able to repair the damage Hydra caused. 

Which is why the doctors and Steve aren't alone in the room. There were two Wakanda soldiers standing near the door, and T'Challa himself was standing outside the room in case any problems occurred.

 

With a quick nod to Steve and the other soldiers, the head doctor, a tall woman who Steve had already forgotten the name of began to unlock the cryotank. After a few seconds tapping a keypad, the door unhinged with a hiss. The solider to right of Steve, another women, moved forward to help open the door.

As the door swung fully open the doctor gave a sharp look around the room and moved towards the still sedentary Bucky. She checked his pulse before muttering a order to the solider nearest to her.

The soldier stepped back and Steve could only watch in shock as the doctor proceeded to slap the infamous Winter Soldier across the face.

The entire room tensed, expecting the former assassin to unfreeze immediately and attack the woman wearing a lab coat. After a few seconds the room relaxed marginally, only for everyone to stiffen when the aforementioned man began to blink open his eyes.

 

The doctor nodded once in satisfaction, and to the relief of the room, stepped away. For what seemed like an agonizingly long time Bucky laid still, eyes shifting along the room in curiosity.

"заказы?" The sound seemed to echo, despite the quiet nature in which it was spoken.

Bucky glanced around the room once more before dragging himself out of the cryotank, moving to stand on surprisingly steady feet. He cleared his throat before looking at the door and asking,

"Orders?" 

Steve's heart plummeted, recognizing the man in front of him as the Winter Soldier instead of the beloved friend he wished to greet. Moving forward unconsciously, he approached.

"Buck? Do you know who I am?" 

Immediately the one armed man stiffened, meeting his eyes.

"Steve Rogers. You're my mission." The entire room froze, as did the ex-assassin. He hunched, the movement painful and causing Steve to jerk towards him before restraining himself.

"Nonono- that's not right. You're- we've met already." Bucky seemed frantic and pained by his realization. The doctor turned to Steve and mouthed 'Wait' before turning to leave the room, despite the questioning glances shot her way.

Focusing back on Bucky, Steve tried for the gentle voice he had in a previous lifetime.

 

"That's right. We've met. We're friends. I was your mission when you worked for Hydra but-" Steve wanted to slap himself. At the mention of the name Bucky straightened, his eyes wild and confused, darting around the room.

 

"Hydra? Cut off one head- wait no. That's not- I'm not. Anymore?" Steve was at a loss. To him it was like talking to two separate people, except they resided in one body. 

 

Thankfully, the solider nearest to Steve spoke up, glancing nervously at the Captain.

"If I may, you used to be a weapon of H- of that organization. You have since been partially rehabilitated and now go by the name Barnes." With a quick nod the soldier sealed his lips, choosing to stare at the wall instead of continue speaking.

 

"Oh. You're right- I - I don't do that anymore. Instead.. Steve?" To the shock of all watching, Bucky sighed and plopped down on the floor, looking up at Steve expectantly.

 

"Um," Shrugging, Steve joined him sitting, choosing to ignore the twitching lips of the solider guarding the door before beginning to speak.

 

"Yeah. You don't do that anymore. I found you and a ton of stuff happened but everything's fine now but not really and yeah. You good?" Even to himself, Steve sounded like a fool, but it seemed to work for Bucky.

 

"I mean, I've been better. We're in... Wakanda? Right?" Steve nodded, smiling broadly like an absolute idiot.

 

"Yeah, the King is letting us stay here to make up for trying to kill you and all that. So um yeah- your arm's in the other room if you-"

 

"No." 

Steve startled at the immediate refusal, pausing his mindless babble to glance at Bucky questioningly.

"You don't want your arm back?"

 

Bucky shook his head, wincing at the movement before reaching behind with his arm to rub at his neck.

"No, I think I need to get used to only having one. Eventually I'll reattach it, but right now this is like training." 

 

"Training?" Steve was lost.

 

"Yeah, if I ever lose the arm again in a fight I can't be completely useless. I've relied on Hydra's advanced technology too much. I need to learn how to function as a proper cripple."

Jesus. Steve was way in over his head. A proper cripple? Hydra? 

He understood what Bucky was saying, but also couldn't help but picture the amount of frustration and possible mental breaks that learning to have one arm would lead to. However, it was Bucky's choice.

 

"Alright. Just remember that it's there if you want it. We're not keeping it from you, I mean, it's your arm." 

Bucky shrugged before turning to Steve with a slightly plastic grin.

 

"So they have any good grub in this place? I'm kinda starved." 

Steve nodded immediately, and the two stood and exited the room, only to be greeted by T'Challa. Steve had assumed he would have left after Bucky didn't try to kill anyone, but instead he was standing there, in the flesh, smiling.

 

"James. I am glad to see you up and about. You were quite boring when frozen, despite Steve's constant checking up and blank staring. I heard you were hungry?" T'Challa smirks at Steve before turning back to his apparent new best friend.

 

"Uh- yes I am standing. And hungry. Thanks for letting me stay here?" Bucky seems confused, but his hunger must overcome any hesitation because he follows after the King when he begins to walk down the hall.

 

"I had my chefs prepare a meal for the two of you. Steve mentioned that the serum causes an increased appetite, and since you've been asleep for such a time I assumed that appetite would have tripled." He pushes open the doors to a room filled with food. There are two soldiers by the door and a large dining table in the center.

 

"Go on ahead, I have some official business to attend to so I won't be able to join but please enjoy." And with that the King of Wakanda disappeared, leaving two super soldiers in a room full of food with no instructions other than to eat. 

 

"Didn't he hate me?" Bucky whispered, sparing a glance at the guards before moving to sit down. 

 

"He did. But that was before he realized that you had been framed. Now he's apologetic." Steve tried to explain without having to go into detail, hoping to save the discussion of Tony's parents for another day.

 

"Oh. I can eat?" He motioned to the food, seeming to wait for something.

Steve nodded, beginning to fill his own plate. The dishes laid out smelled delectable, and despite his stay in Wakanda, he only knew a few of them.

 

"Buck?" Steve glanced towards his friend, wondering why he hadn't started digging in.

 

Bucky's head snapped up, before his expression turned sheepish. 

 

"Sorry. There was- um- there was this rule Hydra had. I'm just trying to work around it." Steve shouldn't have been surprised, he knew from Bucky's file that Hydra had treated him like a slave. So why did this admission shock him.

"What was it?" He asked, trying to keep the question casual.

"What." Bucky's tone showed he knew what Steve was asking, yet was choosing to be evasive.

 

"What was the rule?"

"Why."

"Because talking about these things helps?" Steve was getting slightly aggravated. He knew it wasn't Bucky's fault for not trusting him but he couldn't help but wish to magically have his old friend back.

"You are therapist now?" Bucky snapped, before sighing and looking away.

 

"I'm not supposed to eat for pleasure. I had supplements to keep my body functioning but Hydra thought that if I enjoyed food then it would make me more human or something like that." 

The answer was mumbled, but Steve heard. He heard and he desperately wished once again that the entirety of Hydra contracted some incurable disease and died.

 

"Oh."

"Yeah. Fucked up right?" Steve smiled at the curse, knowing that despite his recent 'language' debacle, he and Bucky used to have the dirtiest mouths of anyone.

 

"Yeah. Well, you're not that person anymore. You can eat whenever you want. Um- is there anything I can do?" He was struggling. Steve didn't have the slightest clue how to go about helping his friend, but he figured there was no harm in asking.

 

"Just um- just eat what you want. And- fuck this is stupid- do you think you could make me a plate? I'm not used to... choosing, I guess." The words were awkward and Bucky's eyes never moved from their new spot glued to the table, yet Steve smiled.

 

"Of course. You're not a vegan now or anything?" He had already grabbed Bucky's plate (slowly, as to not get stabbed) and began piling the tastiest looking dishes on. 

 

"Nah, I may be crazy, but not leaf-muncher crazy." Steve smiled, wondering for barely half a millisecond if this recurring sense of humor was a sign that everything was going to be alright.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter!
> 
> Also- I have nothing against vegans. Just a joke.
> 
> So I'm really excited for this story and I've got the plot planned out for once so yay. Feel free to comment if you see any typos, have any scene/story ideas, or just want to say hi.


End file.
